British control

Increasing tension between France and Great Britain developed over control of the territory. In 1760, France ceded the area to Britain after its forces in North America surrendered during the Seven Years' War, known on the North American front as the French and Indian War. In 1763, various Native American nations rebelled against British rule and retook the fort as part of Pontiac's Rebellion. The Miami regained control of Kekionga, ruling it for more than 30 years.[24]

US Invasion of Native American Land

In 1790, after the United States achieved independence, President George Washington ordered the United States Army to secure Indiana Territory. Three battles were fought at Kekionga against Little Turtle and the Miami Confederacy. Miami warriors defeated U.S. forces in the first two battles. General Anthony Wayne led a third expedition resulting in the destruction of Kekionga and the start of peace negotiations between Little Turtle and the U.S. After General Wayne refused to negotiate, tribal forces advanced to Fallen Timbers, where they were defeated on August 20, 1794. On October 22, 1794, U.S. forces captured the Wabash-Erie portage from the Miami Confederacy and built Fort Wayne, named in honor of the general.[25]

Settlement permitted by Treaty of St. Mary's

An illustration depicting the 1812 military garrison.

The military garrison was discontinued and a federal land office opened to sell land ceded by local Native Americans by the Treaty of St. Mary's in 1819.[26]Platted in 1823 at the Ewing Tavern, the village became an important frontier outpost, and was incorporated as the Town of Fort Wayne in 1829, with a population of 300.[27][28] The Wabash and Erie Canal's opening improved travel conditions to the Great Lakes and Mississippi River, exposing Fort Wayne to expanded economic opportunities. The population topped 2,000 when the town was incorporated as the City of Fort Wayne on February 22, 1840.[29] Pioneer newspaperman George W. Wood was elected the city's first mayor. Fort Wayne's "Summit City" nickname dates from this period, referring to the city's position at the highest elevation along the canal's route.[16] As influential as the canal was to the city's earliest development, it quickly became obsolete after briefly competing with the city's first railroad, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, completed in 1854.[30]

Modern history

A lithograph of Fort Wayne (1868).

At the turn of the 20th century, the city's population reached nearly 50,000, attributed to a large influx of German and Irishimmigrants. Fort Wayne's "urban working class" thrived in industrial and railroad-related jobs.[31] The city's economy was substantially based on manufacturing, ushering in an era of innovation with several notable inventions and developments coming out of the city over the years, such as gasoline pumps (1885), the refrigerator (1913), and in 1972, the first home video game console.[32][33] A 1913 flood caused seven deaths, left 15,000 homeless, and damaged over 5,500 buildings in the worst natural disaster in the city's history.[34]

As the automobile's prevalence grew, Fort Wayne became a fixture on the Lincoln Highway.[35] Aviation arrived in 1919 with the opening of the city's first airport, Smith Field. The airport served as Fort Wayne's primary commercial airfield until Baer Field (now Fort Wayne International Airport) was transferred to the city in 1947 after serving as a military base during World War II.[36]

Fort Wayne was hit by the Great Depression beginning in 1929, with most factories cutting their workforce.[37] The stock market crash did not discourage plans to build the city's first skyscraper and Indiana's tallest building at the time, the Lincoln Bank Tower.[38] By 1935, the New Deal's WPA put over 7,000 residents back to work through local infrastructure improvements, including the construction of new parks, bridges, viaducts, and a $5.2 million sewage treatment facility.[39]

The post-World War II economic boom helped the city prosper once again. Between 1950 and 1955, more than 5,000 homes were built, many in large subdivisions in rural Allen County.[40] In 1950, Fort Wayne's first bypass, Coliseum Boulevard, opened on the north side of the city, followed by the city's first arena, War Memorial Coliseum, bringing new opportunities for suburban expansion.[41] The Coliseum was home to the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons from 1952 to 1957. The opening of enclosed shopping malls and the construction of Interstate 69 through rural areas north and west of the city proper further drove the exodus of retail from downtown through the 1960s.[42] According to the Fort Wayne Home Builders Association estimates, more than 80 percent of new home construction occurred outside the city proper in the 1970s.[43]

A flooded Superior Street in 1982.

Like many cities in the Rust Belt, deindustrialization in the 1980s brought urban blight, increased crime, and a decrease in blue-collar manufacturing jobs.[44] Downtown and surrounding neighborhoods continued declining as residents and businesses sprawled further into rural Allen County.[45] A 1982 flood forced an evacuation of 9,000 residents, damaging 2,000 buildings, and costing $56.1 million (1982 USD, $137 million 2015 USD).[46][47]

The 1990s marked a turnaround for the city, as local leaders focused on crime reduction, economic diversification, and downtown redevelopment. By 1999, Fort Wayne's crime rate decreased to levels not seen since 1974, and the city's economy recovered, with the unemployment rate hovering at 2.4 percent in 1998.[48] Clearing blighted buildings downtown resulted in new public greenspaces, including Headwaters Park, which has become the premier community gathering space and centerpiece in the city's $50 million flood control project. Fort Wayne celebrated its bicentennial in 1994.[49][50]

The most important geographical feature of the area is the short distance overland between the Three Rivers system, which eventually flows to the Atlantic, and the Wabash system, which eventually flows to the Gulf of Mexico. This came to be the "portage" or carrying place, over which travelers could transport their cargoes from one system to the next. This natural crossroads attracted the Native Americans for thousands of years. It later attracted the European explorers and traders and the American pioneer settlers who continued to develop the area as a transportation and communications center. Chief Little Turtle of the Miami Nation expressed its importance eloquently at the treaty of Greenville in 1795 when he called it "that glorious gate...through which all the words of our chiefs had to pass through from north to south and from east to west."

Fort Wayne's urban tree canopy is 29 percent, double the state average of 14.5 percent[56] and above the national average of 27.1 percent.[57] The canopy is decreasing, notably from development and the emerald ash borer infestation.[56] Fort Wayne has been designated a Tree City USA since 1990.[58]

Cityscape

Downtown Fort Wayne, looking south from the St. Marys River.

Historically, Fort Wayne has been divided into four unofficial quadrants: northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. Calhoun Street divides the southwest and southeast, while the St. Joseph River divides the northwest and northeast quadrants. The Maumee River separates the northeast and southeast, while portions of the St. Marys River and Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad separate the northwest and southwest quadrants.[59]

Climate

The Oakdale neighborhood after a January snow.

Fort Wayne lies in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen: Dfa), experiencing four distinct seasons.[67] The city is located in USDA hardiness zones 5b and 6a.[68] Typically, summers are hot, humid, and wet. Winters are generally cold with moderate snowfall. The average annual precipitation is 37.34 in (948 mm), recorded at Fort Wayne International Airport. During the winter season, snowfall accumulation averages 33.5 in (85 cm) per year. Lake-effect snow is not uncommon to the region, but usually appears in the form of light snow flurries.

The National Weather Service reports the highest recorded temperature in the city at 106 °F (41 °C), most recently on June 28, 2012, and the lowest recorded temperature at -24 °F (-31 °C) on January 12, 1918.[69] The wettest month on record was June 2015, with 11.98 in (304 mm) of precipitation.[70] The greatest 24-hour rainfall was 4.93 in (125 mm) on August 1, 1926. The snowiest month on record was January 2014, with 30.3 in (77 cm) of snowfall.[71] The greatest calendar-day snowfall was 18.0 in (46 cm) on February 28, 1900.[72]

Severe weather is not uncommon, particularly in the spring and summer months; the city experiences an average of 39 thunderstorm days and about 10 severe weather days annually.[73] An EF2 tornado struck northern Fort Wayne on May 26, 2001, injuring three and causing damage along the Coliseum Boulevard corridor and a subdivision.[74] Fort Wayne experienced 91 mph (146 km/h) wind gusts in the June 2012 North American derecho, knocking out power to 78,000, uprooting approximately 500 trees,[75] and costing $2.5 million.[76]

There were 101,585 households of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.0% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.09.

The median age in the city was 34.5 years. 26.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.5% were from 25 to 44; 24.9% were from 45 to 64; and 12% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.

Fort Wayne has the largest Burmese American population in the U.S., estimated at 6,000.[85] Burmese refugee settlement and "secondary migrants" doubled the city's Asian population between 2000 and 2010.[86]

Religion

Fort Wayne is sometimes referred to as the "City of Churches," an unofficial moniker dating to the late-19th century when the city was the regional hub of Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopal faiths.[87] Today, there are 360 churches in the city.[88] 54 percent of Fort Wayne residents identify as religious, where 16 percent are Catholic, 9 percent are Lutheran, 6.5 percent are Baptist, 5 percent are Methodist, and 0.14 percent are Jewish, with 16.5 percent adhering to other Christian faiths.[89] An increasing religious minority is found among the city's immigrant communities, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.[90]

Economy

Manufacturing is deeply rooted in Fort Wayne's economic history, dating to the earliest days of the city's growth as an important trade stop along the Wabash and Erie Canal. Railroads, introduced shortly after the canal's arrival, eased travel from Fort Wayne to other booming industrial centers along the Great Lakes, such as Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, and Cleveland. Throughout the early and mid-20th century, manufacturing dominated the city's economic landscape. From 1900 to 1930, Fort Wayne's industrial output expanded by 747 percent, with total production valued at $95 million in 1929, up from $11 million in 1899.[94] The total workforce also increased from 18,000 in 1900 to nearly 50,000 in 1930.[94]

The 1970s and 1980s were times of economic depression in Fort Wayne, when much of the city's manufacturing foundation eroded and the blue-collar workforce shrank. Fort Wayne joined several other cities reeling economically within the Rust Belt.[98] At the same time, General Electric also downsized much of its more than 10,000-person workforce.[99] Amid other area plant closures and downsizing, coupled with the early 1980s recession, the city lost 30,000 jobs and reached a 12.1 percent unemployment rate.[100] The arrival of General Motors in 1987 helped fill the void from shuttered manufacturers and aided in the area's recovery, employing 3,000 at its Fort Wayne Assembly.[101] In 2017, General Motors was the largest manufacturer in the city, employing 4,100 assembling Chevrolet Silverado regular and double cab light- and heavy-duty pickup trucks.[102]

Through the 1990s and into the 2000s, the city diversified its economy; manufacturing now employs 16.9 percent of Allen County's workforce.[17] Other sectors include distribution, transportation, and logistics (23.1 percent), health care (17.9 percent), professional and business services (12.1 percent), leisure and hospitality (11.1 percent), and financial services (6.3 percent).[17] The leisure and hospitality sector has especially grown, with 5.8 million visitors spending $545 million in 2013, a 4.3 percent increase over the previous year.[103] The city is a center for the defense industry, employing thousands at such companies as BAE Systems (1,150), Harris Corporation (888), Raytheon Systems (950), and the Fort Wayne Air National Guard Station (423).[18]

Despite economic diversification, the city was significantly impacted by the Great Recession. According to a report from Pew Research Center, the city lost nearly a quarter of its manufacturing jobs and 11% of its economic status between 2000 and 2014.[104] Economic Innovation Group's 2016 Distressed Communities Index Report ranked Fort Wayne among the most unequal large cities in the U.S. in terms of linking economic opportunities to its distressed zip codes. As of 2017[update], Allen County's labor force was 180,637 with an unemployment rate of 2.5 percent.[17][105]

Culture

Performing arts

The Embassy Theatre is a 2,471-seat performing arts theater which hosts over 200,000 patrons annually.[110] Since its founding in 1944, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra has often been hosted at the Embassy.[111] The University of Saint Francis Robert Goldstine Performing Arts Center, located on its Downtown Campus, contains a 2,086-seat auditorium.[112]

Since its establishment in 2010, the Cultural District has been home to several of the city's cultural institutions, including the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Auer Center for Arts and Culture, Arts United Center, and Hall Community Arts Center.[113] Arts United Center houses the Fort Wayne Civic Theater, Fort Wayne Dance Collective, and Fort Wayne Youtheatre. Auer Center for Arts and Culture houses Fort Wayne Ballet. Hall Community Arts Center houses Cinema Center, an independent film venue.

Though used mainly for exhibitions and conventions, the Grand Wayne Convention Center hosts dance and choir productions, such as the annual Foundation for Art and Music in Education (FAME) Northeast Festival.[114] Foellinger Theatre, a 2,500-seat amphitheater in Franke Park, hosts seasonal acts and outdoor concerts during warmer months.[115] Located west of downtown, Arena Dinner Theatre is a nonprofit community arts corporation with a focus on live theater production, annually hosting seven full-length theatrical productions.[116]

The History Center, located in Fort Wayne's Old City Hall, manages a collection of more than 23,000 artifacts recalling the region's history.[125] The center is overseen by the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society, which maintains the Richardville House, one of two National Historic Landmarks in the city. Historic Fort Wayne, a replica of the 1815 fortification, hosts scheduled tours and historical reenactments throughout the year.[126] Other cultural museums include the African/African-American Historical Museum,[127] Fort Wayne Firefighters Museum,[128] Greater Fort Wayne Aviation Museum,[129] and Baer Field Heritage Air Park.

Fort4Fitness is a certified half marathon, 4-mile (6.4 km) run/walk, and health fair. Over 9,000 participated in the 2011 half marathon.[136] In 2012, Fort4Fitness debuted a spring cycle, Bike-the-Fort, which included three bicycling tours with over 1,000 participants.[137] HolidayFest begins with the Night of Lights on Thanksgiving eve, with the lighting of the PNC Santa and Reindeer, Wells Fargo Holiday Display, and Indiana Michigan Power Christmas Wreath, ending with a fireworks finale at Parkview Field.[138]

Some notable events in sports history occurred in Fort Wayne. On June 2, 1883, Fort Wayne hosted the Quincy Professionals for one of the first lighted evening baseball games ever recorded.[147] Fort Wayne is also credited as the birthplace of the NBA, as Pistons' coach Carl Bennett brokered the merger of the BAA and the NBL in 1948 from his Alexander Street home.[148][149][150] On March 10, 1961, Wilt Chamberlain became the first player in the NBA to reach 3,000 points in a single season while competing at the War Memorial Coliseum.[148][151]

Parks and recreation

Tulips bloom in Foster Park.

Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation maintains 86 public parks totaling 2,805 acres (1,135 ha).[88] Three public and 20 private golf courses are located in Allen County.[152] Franke Park is the most extensive city park, covering 339.24 acres (137.3 ha).[153] Franke is home to the Foellinger Theatre, Shoaff Lake, and the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. Other notable parks include Johnny Appleseed Park (home to a campground and John Chapman's grave) and McCulloch Park (home to Samuel Bigger's grave). Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory, Headwaters Park, Lawton Skatepark, and Historic Fort Wayne are located downtown. Hurshtown Reservoir, near Grabill, is the largest body of water in Allen County and is popular with watersports enthusiasts for sailing and fishing. Some 300 lakes are located within 50 miles (80 km) of the city.[154] Located downtown along the St. Marys River, Fort Wayne Outfitters offers canoe, kayak, stand-up paddle board, and pontoon boat rentals for recreation along the three rivers.[155]

Starting in the 1970s, the city developed a system of recreational trails along the riverbanks, known as the Rivergreenway, with the aim of beautifying the riverfronts and promoting active lifestyles for residents.[156] The Rivergreenway was designated a National Recreation Trail in 2009.[157] As of 2018, the Rivergreenway had expanded with additional trails to encompass nearly 180 miles (290 km) throughout the city and county, with about 550,000 annual users.[158] With the expansion of trails in recent years, cycling has become an emerging mode of transportation for residents. In 2009, the city's first bicycle lanes were established[159] with the installation of 250 bike parking places.[160] In 2016, Fort Wayne was designated a Bronze Level bicycle friendly community by the League of American Bicyclists.[161]

Fort Wayne's mayor is Tom Henry, a Democrat, who was elected in 2007. Henry succeeded Democrat Graham Richard who chose not to run for re-election after two terms as mayor. Henry was re-elected to a third term in 2015.[164] Karl Bandemer was appointed deputy mayor in 2013.[165] Lana Keesling was elected city clerk in 2015.[166] Fort Wayne City Council has nine elected members, one representative from each of the city's six council districts and three at-large members, serving four-year terms.[163]

Under the Unigov provision of Indiana Law, Fort Wayne would have automatically consolidated with Allen County when its population exceeded 250,000, previously the minimum population for a first class city in Indiana.[167] Fort Wayne nearly met the state requirements for first class city designation on January 1, 2006 when 12.8 square miles (33 km2) of neighboring Aboite Township (and a small section of Wayne Township) including 25,094 people were annexed.[168] However, a 2004 legislative change raised the population threshold for first-class status from 250,000 to 600,000, which ensured Indianapolis' status as the only first class city in Indiana.[169]

Municipal and state laws are enforced by the Fort Wayne Police Department, an organization of 460 officers.[170] In 2006, Fort Wayne's crime rate was 5104.1 per 100,000 people, slightly above the national average of 4479.3.[171] There were 18 murders, 404 robberies, and 2,128 burglaries in 2006.[171] Steve Reed was appointed to the position of police chief in 2016.[172] In 2014, former police chief Rusty York was appointed to the position of director of public safety. York previously served as police chief from 2000 to 2014.[173] As of 2010, the Fort Wayne Fire Department includes 375 uniformed firefighters and 18 fire stations.[174] Eric Lahey was appointed fire chief in 2014.[175]

Libraries

Composed of 14 branches, the Allen County Public Library is among the 20 largest public libraries in the U.S., and ranks 89th factoring in academic libraries, with 3.4 million volumes.[186] The library's foundation is also among the nation's largest, with $14 million in assets.[187] The entire library system underwent an $84.1 million overhaul from 2002 to 2007.[188] In 2009, over 7.4 million materials were borrowed by patrons, with over 3 million visits made throughout the library system.[189]

Unlike most cities comparable to its size, Fort Wayne does not have an urban freeway system. In 1946, planners proposed a $27 million federally funded freeway, crossing east-west and north-south through downtown.[196] Opponents successfully campaigned against the proposal, objecting to the demolition of nearly 1,500 homes at the time of the post-World War II housing shortage, while playing on fears that the project would force displaced minorities into white neighborhoods.[197][198] In 1947, Fort Wayne residents voted down the referendum that would have allowed for its construction, dubbed the Anthony Wayne Parkway.[199] Beginning in 1962, construction commenced for I-69 in suburban Fort Wayne.[200][43]

The I-469 beltway around the southern and eastern fringes of Fort Wayne and New Haven was constructed between 1988 and 1995 as the largest public works project in Allen County history, at $207 million.[199]

Amtrak's Capitol Limited (Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland - Pittsburgh - Washington, D.C.) and Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited (Chicago - Toledo - Cleveland - Buffalo - Albany - split to Boston and to New York City) are the closest passenger rail services to Fort Wayne, located 25 miles (40 km) north at Waterloo Station. There has been a movement to bring direct passenger rail service back in the form of Amtrak or high-speed rail service.[201] In 2013, a feasibility study was published outlining the impacts of a proposed Columbus--Fort Wayne--Chicago high-speed rail corridor. At 300 miles (480 km), the route would cost $1.29 billion and generate some $7.1 billion in economic benefits to the region.[202] Freight service is provided by a class I railroad (Norfolk Southern) and two class III railroads (CSX Transportation).[203] Fort Wayne is headquarters and main operations hub of Norfolk Southern's Triple Crown Services subsidiary, the largest truckload shipper in the U.S.[203]

Fort Wayne's mass transit system is managed by the Fort Wayne Public Transportation Corporation (Citilink), providing 12 bus routes through the cities of Fort Wayne and New Haven via downtown's Central Station.[204] CampusLink debuted in 2009 as a free shuttle service for students, faculty, and general public traveling between Ivy Tech's Coliseum and North campuses, IPFW and its student housing on the Waterfield Campus, and shopping and residential areas.[205] MedLink debuted in 2013 connecting Parkview Regional Medical Center with Parkview Health's Randallia campus.[206] Despite annual ridership of 2.2 million,[205] less than one percent of residents commute by public transportation.[195] Fort Wayne is served by two intercity bus providers: Greyhound Lines (Indianapolis--Toledo--Detroit) and Lakefront Lines (Chicago--Columbus--Akron).[207]

In 2016, the city introduced its first bike-sharing program, including five stations and 25 bicycles.[208]

Utilities

City Utilities is the largest municipally owned water utility in Indiana, supplying residents with 72 million US gallons (270,000 m3) of water per day via the Three Rivers Water Filtration Plant and St. Joseph River.[211] Sanitary sewer treatment is also managed by City Utilities. The City of Fort Wayne offers full curbside recycling and solid waste collection services for residents, presently contracted through Republic Services. Electricity is provided by Indiana Michigan Power, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, while natural gas is supplied by Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), a subsidiary of NiSource. All tier 1 networks and several additional telecommunication service providers cover the Fort Wayne rate area.[212]

See also

Notes

^According to J. Dunn, Jr., this name was "usually said to mean "blackberry patch," or "blackberry bush," this plant being considered an emblem of antiquity because it sprang up on the sites of old villages. This theory rests on the testimony of Barron, a longtime French trader on the Wabash. It is more probable that Kekionga is a corruption or dialect form of Kiskakon, or Kikakon, which was the original name of the place." J. P. Dunn.[21] But, Michael McCafferty, an Algonquian and Uto-Aztecan linguist professor at Indiana University, exhaustively examined the etymology of 'Kekionga' and dismissed Dunn's explanation and several others. See the chapter "Trails to Kekionga" in the relevantly titled Native American Place Names of Indiana (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008), esp. p. 76. In the 1680s, French traders established a post near Kekionga due to its location on a portage between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River.[22]

^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1981 to 2010.

^Hoxie, Frederick E. (1996). Encyclopedia of North American Indians: Native American History, Culture, and Life from Paleo-Indians to the Present. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 343. ISBN0-395-66921-9.